Easter Parade
Directed by Charles Walters
Written by Sidney Sheldon, Frances Goodrich, and Albert Hackett
1948/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Oh, I could write a sonnet about your easter bonnet,/ And of the girl I’m taking to the easter parade. – “Easter Parade”, lyrics by Irving Berlin[/box]
This is pretty average when you consider it’s a collaboration between Fed Astaire, Judy Garland, and Irving Berlin. There are flashes of inspiration however.
Don Hewes (Astaire) has a ballroom dancing act with girlfriend Nadine Hale (Ann Miller). Nadine is sweet on Don’s wealthy buddy Jonathan Harrow III (Peter Lawford). Nadine abruptly announces that she has signed a contract to star in a Broadway show, leaving Don holding the bag on the duo’s contract. He sets out to prove that he can teach anybody to do what Nadine did and picks Hannah Brown (Garland) out of the chorus line in a small club.
But small-town girl Hannah is nothing like the showy Nadine and does not know her right foot from her left. In fact, Don finds it impossible to train her in the old act. It is not until he decides to change the material that the team can hit the big time.
In the meantime, Hannah falls in love with the all-business Don. Jonathan is in love with her but she is having none of it. After a while Don seems to reciprocate Hannah’s affections but complications arise when Don accepts Nadine’s invitation to dance at a celebration after their show.
You certainly won’t want to watch this for the scintillating story. In fact, I would say this is more pedestrian than most musicals. But the thing is jam packed with musical numbers of varying impact. Toward the end, Astaire dances brilliantly to “Stepping Out with My Baby” and both stars clown memorably to the often anthologized “A Couple of Swells”. It’s always a treat to see Miller tap as well. I wonder who decided that Peter Lawford could sing?
Easter Parade won the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.
Trailer
Clip – “A Couple of Swells”
